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Why is the link at the top of this article ('cyber•Fund') to https://cyber.fund/system/Paragon https://cyber.fund/system/Paragon, a page for 'Paragon', a very s

by ve55 9y ago

Why is the link at the top of this article ('cyber•Fund') to https://cyber.fund/system/Paragon https://cyber.fund/system/Paragon, a page for 'Paragon', a very shifty high-budget ICO? Given the other things Paragon has paid big bucks for (anything you can imagine, from paying Youtubers 5 figures per video to get their subscribers to 'invest' in them to paying for mass reddit vote manipulation to buying very expensive ads and sponsorship programs to lying about their company model, CEO, etc), it seems really out of place to me that this article links to them as the first link.

the_common_man 9y ago
ICOs are the new nigerian banks
- hisabness 9y ago
  can you clarify your comment?
  - fataliss 9y ago
    I guess that would be a reference to the scams: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_scam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_scam
    - hisabness 9y ago
      There was an article awhile back that discussed why most scams claim Nigerian origination and/or are otherwise designed only for the most gullible.
      - sanxiyn 9y ago
        You can read this classic here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/why-do-nigerian-scammers-say-they-are-from-nigeria/ https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/why-do-...
- forgotmysn 9y ago
  Nigerian princes
KGIII 9y ago
At first, I thought you might be hyperbolic or had fallen for some sort of propaganda (for lack of a better term). I don't know much about ICOs and I know/knew less about Paragon. I figured I'd check and just let you be, figuring I'd not get involved. So, I went to Google and entered, "Paragon ICO complaints Reddit." In two minutes, probably less, I'd confirmed that they were as bad as you claim. I spent about a half hour and read a bunch. If anything, you didn't even mention some of the biggest issues. The whole thing is shady as hell. They mysteriously went from two to five 'programmers' retroactively. Not only will they not name the programmers, they won't show any of their previous work, such as a GitHub account. The owner probably isn't the owner, but is her husband and he has a storied past that makes me question his ethics. And it goes on and on. It's like the Equifax of crytocurrency, with regards to a continued stream of negative results. One of the complaints is that they are just in it for the money. Well, yeah... I can see that. I can even rationalize that. But, instead of sticking with their agreed pre-sale amount, they sold like five times as many coins. How the heck is this even legal? I bet US currency was involved and it has been shown before that that's all it takes for the US Feds to get involved and go stomping across borders. Seriously, how is it legal? You didn't even exaggerate! They appear worse than your claim! As for how they ended up on that site and as the top-most link, I find it hard to give the benefit of doubt. It took me one single search to confirm what you said. I only spent the additional time because I like a good train wreck. I will give them some credit, their balls must need a cart to carry them around. This kind of money attracts strong enemies, regardless of the legality. There is no way in hell that this is legal.
- ve55 9y ago
  Haha, I appreciate the response, I'm glad that upon doing your own investigation you found that my wording was reasonable. As far as legality goes, it's difficulty to say. I think that a project like this is likely paying lawyers good money to make sure they stay 'in the green', but lawyers can only do so much to protect you when you do the things that they're doing. We all know that projects like Paragon and many others are the reasons why regulations will come even harder in these areas. As for to what extent the law needs to protect investors from making terrible investments, I'm not sure, the game changes a lot when companies start completely lying to their investors, and that does seem to me (as a non-lawyer) like one of the many good places where lines can be drawn.
21xhipster 9y ago
Sorry. That is just a stupid mistake from our team member

by ve55 9y ago

the_common_man 9y ago

ICOs are the new nigerian banks

hisabness 9y ago
can you clarify your comment?
- fataliss 9y ago
  I guess that would be a reference to the scams: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_scam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_scam
  - hisabness 9y ago
    There was an article awhile back that discussed why most scams claim Nigerian origination and/or are otherwise designed only for the most gullible.
    - sanxiyn 9y ago
      You can read this classic here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/why-do-nigerian-scammers-say-they-are-from-nigeria/ https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/why-do-...
forgotmysn 9y ago
Nigerian princes

KGIII 9y ago

At first, I thought you might be hyperbolic or had fallen for some sort of propaganda (for lack of a better term). I don't know much about ICOs and I know/knew less about Paragon. I figured I'd check and just let you be, figuring I'd not get involved. So, I went to Google and entered, "Paragon ICO complaints Reddit." In two minutes, probably less, I'd confirmed that they were as bad as you claim. I spent about a half hour and read a bunch. If anything, you didn't even mention some of the biggest issues. The whole thing is shady as hell. They mysteriously went from two to five 'programmers' retroactively. Not only will they not name the programmers, they won't show any of their previous work, such as a GitHub account. The owner probably isn't the owner, but is her husband and he has a storied past that makes me question his ethics. And it goes on and on. It's like the Equifax of crytocurrency, with regards to a continued stream of negative results. One of the complaints is that they are just in it for the money. Well, yeah... I can see that. I can even rationalize that. But, instead of sticking with their agreed pre-sale amount, they sold like five times as many coins. How the heck is this even legal? I bet US currency was involved and it has been shown before that that's all it takes for the US Feds to get involved and go stomping across borders. Seriously, how is it legal? You didn't even exaggerate! They appear worse than your claim! As for how they ended up on that site and as the top-most link, I find it hard to give the benefit of doubt. It took me one single search to confirm what you said. I only spent the additional time because I like a good train wreck. I will give them some credit, their balls must need a cart to carry them around. This kind of money attracts strong enemies, regardless of the legality. There is no way in hell that this is legal.

ve55 9y ago
Haha, I appreciate the response, I'm glad that upon doing your own investigation you found that my wording was reasonable. As far as legality goes, it's difficulty to say. I think that a project like this is likely paying lawyers good money to make sure they stay 'in the green', but lawyers can only do so much to protect you when you do the things that they're doing. We all know that projects like Paragon and many others are the reasons why regulations will come even harder in these areas. As for to what extent the law needs to protect investors from making terrible investments, I'm not sure, the game changes a lot when companies start completely lying to their investors, and that does seem to me (as a non-lawyer) like one of the many good places where lines can be drawn.

21xhipster 9y ago

Sorry. That is just a stupid mistake from our team member